Introduction

Last year around this time, I was seeing press releases for something called the GOrb from Thermaltake. While being not much more than a pair of stands to raise a notebook off the table, the 8-ball looks, and the black and white theme was an idea that was well outside the box of what we typically think of when it comes to cooling a notebook of any size. In this concept, you were given a ball that weighed 50 grams and would split in half. This allowed the ball to have a flat section that had silicone pads on it to grip the desk, while where the number 8 should have been on the ball, there was the Thermaltake name applied in the white section of silicone rubber that would keep the notebook from sliding off the top. Using the GOrb simply brought the laptop up in the back to allow the fans inside to access much more air to cool the notebook, but it also adds and ergonomic angle of use for those on the go, and didn't take up much space in the bag.

Time has since gone by, and in that time, I didn't see many (if any) reviews of the GOrb. It was almost as if it was just a paper launch, as it didn't seem that much effort went into making the GOrb known to the masses. Even if just a super simple concept for a cooling option for a notebook, the idea was to keep it very compact, so that you could just throw it almost anywhere when traveling. Realizing this is the size of a wadded up pair of socks, you get an idea of how easy these can be to stow away.

With not much to go on from Thermaltake with the original GOrb, I am pleased to see that when the second incarnation arrived, they were much more open and willing to send them out to the media. So, now we have a chance to look at the next-generation of GOrb cooling, with the GOrb II. I wouldn't start off thinking this is just another plastic ball either, Thermaltake redesigned just about every aspect of how the system looks, operates, and there even some cool tricks hidden inside to allow users something very cool to look at. And now with fans included in the design, the GOrb II should perform a bit better than just sticking a couple of jack stands under the notebook.

I really think that this second generation is something that many will want to check out, specifically those on the go with little room for a full sized, regular laptop cooler.